williams



2 Sheets-Sh eet 1.

(No Model.)

J. R. WILLIAMS.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING CIGAR WRAPPERS. No. 340,180. Patented Apr. 20, 1886.

illllllx N. PETERS. Phowmho m. Wuhingtun. lac.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2..

(No Model.) I

' .J; R. WILLIAMS.

I MACHINE FOR CUTTING CIGAR WRAPPBRS. No. 340,180. I Patented Apr;20,1886.

u. Pawns. Pholo-lithegnphw. Wanhingtan. m c

UNITE STATES PATENT Quince.

JOHN E'. WILLIAMS, E NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING CIGAR=WRAPPERS.

faPEClIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,180, dated April20, 1886. Application filed February 10, 1883. Serial No. 84,667. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinesfor Cutting Gigar-VVrappers, fully described and represented in thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthe same.

The invention relates to improvements in cigar-wrapper cutters; and itconsists in the elements hereinafter described, and particularlypointedout in the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a front View of awork-bench havingacutter mounted thereon with a roller, a treadle, and suction apparatus,the cutter and gate-valve being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a plan ofthe cutter shown at A in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal verticalsection of the same with details omitted from Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a planof the work-bench 0, showing the means used for operating thecutting-roller E used in connection with the cutter A, and showing onemeans of mounting and operating the movable suction-box. Fig. 5 is anelevation of the parts shown in Fig. 4, the parts connected with themovable suction-box being shown in The cutter is shown mounted with itscuttingsection toexhibit their construction more clearly. I Fig. 6 is avertical section of such parts on line 3/ yin Fig. 5, showing the formof the guides and the passage for the strap through the bench. Fig. 7 isa diagram of the roller-arm V and alternative device for automaticallymoving the suction-box shown connected with a foot-treadle in Fig. 5;and Fig. 8 is a view of the perforated under surface of the said movablecarrier, only the connecting-pipe being shown therewith.

A is the cutter; B, its bed; 0, the workbench, and D the floorunderneath the same.

edges upward and a tobacco-leaf, L, lying thereon. For pressing suchleaf upon the cutting-edges of the cutter, I have shown a roller, E,represented as carried in the end of a horizontal swinging arm, V, whichis traversed to and fro over the cutter, as required, by straps F,connecting the swinging bar to a treadle, T. Abuckle, U, is shownattached to the bar V, and the straps are carried over pulleys \V,mounted upon the bench O, to convert the vertical pull of the treadleinto the horizontal movement of the bar. The mountings of the bar areshown in Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawings; but they are more fully shown inanotherpatent application filed by me, and other means for traversingthe roller may be used, if required.

In Fig. 2 the cutter is shown shaped like the wrapper for a cigar-bunch,and the space inside the cutting-edges is represented as filled by aplaten, P, guided by studs a, and pressed upward by springs 6. (Shown inFig. 3-) The springs are shown as if adjusted to sustain the platen alittle above the cutting-edge of the cutter, thereby protecting thefingers of the operator in applying the tobacco-leaf, while the pressureof the roller in forcing the leaf against the cutter easily depressesthe platen during the cutting operation. The platen is shown perforatedwith holes 1), and the bed B is shown provided with an outletpipe, (1,by which the air is exhausted from the interior of the cutter andatmospheric pressure induced upon the leaf L.

In Fig. 1 the suction-pipeis shown atJconnected with the exhaust side ofa blower, K, and a gate, M, isinserted in the pipe beneath thework-bench to regulate the pressure of the air upon the leaf L, asdesired. The gate valve is shown hinged to a lever, N, arranged in suchposition beneath the bench that it may be operated by the workmans kneeor hand, as preferred, the fulcrum O for the lever being secured to thebench in a suitable position.

The operation of the devices described is as follows: The operatorsitsbefore the bench, and in applying the tobacco-leaf to the cutter exertssufficient tension to stretch it smoothly while he lays it upon'theplaten P, the gate having been previously opened to induce theatmospheric current. The effect of such current is to draw the leafclosely and smoothly over the surface of such platen,'so that it is heldfirmly in place while the operator moves the roller over the cutter bythe application of his foot to the treadle T. The wrapper, when thuscut, may be removed from the platen by shutting off the suction from thecutter, or the cigar-bunch may be applied thereto without such removal,as claimed in another patent application filed herewith.

As stated above, this invention is applicable to the cutting of variousfabrics and materials, but is especially valuablein its application tocigar manufacture, as no means heretofore used for cutting the leafenabled the operator to subject the leaf to such tension as to entirelyfree it from wrinkles and folds during the cutting operation.

By the use of my apparatus the leaf may not only be spread over thecutter by the fingers of the operator, but is ironed out, as it were, bythe continued pressure of the atmospliere. In other devices for cuttingcigarwrappers the surface of the leaf is covered by the cutter or by thebed against which the cutter presses, and the leaf is thus concealedfrom view, and is generally cut in a more or less wrinkled condition.This causes the edge of the wrapper in many instances to be notched,wavy, or uneven, and necessitates frequent trimming and clipping on thepart of the operator before the wrapper can be applied to the bunch. Bymy method no such defects are produced in the wrapper, and the leaf isfurthermore stretched and flattened so perfectly during the cuttingoperation that more than ten per cent. of the stock is saved in theproduction of wrappers from average tobaccoleaves.

The cutter is shown attached to a movable bed, B, having a tubularthimble, (Z, fitted to its center, so that the cutter and bed can bereadily removed from the benchG and cutters of other forms and sizessubstituted. For this purpose the exhaust-pipe J is inserted in thebench and the thimbled inserted in it;to make the connection.

In Figs. 4 and 5 is shown the application of a carrier having aperforated surface to the moving of the material to or from the cutter,the drawing showing an arrangement for removing the blanks(cigar-wrappers cut from leaves) from the cutter as fast as they aresevered. S is the suction-box shaped to cover the top of cutter A, andprovided with a per forated under side, as shown in Fig. 8. R is a pipeattached thereto and connected by a sliding valve, plate, or connection,Q, with the suction-pipe J. O is a guide-rod for moving the box S, and ZZ are guides secured to the bench G behind the cutter A. A spring, m, isshown attached to the pipe Band to one of the guides to retract the boxS, and n is a strap passed from the rodO over a pulley, n, to a treadle,8, within reach of the operators foot. The top of the pipe J is providedwith a plate, Q, which covers the mouth of the pipe-connection Rattached to the box S, and an aperture, 1", is formed in the under sideof the said connection and proportioned so as to coincide withthe mouthof the pipe J when the box is pushed forward to remove the blank fromthe cutter. By this construction the box operates to lift the blank fromthe cutter when over the same, and to sustain the blank in its returnmovement until over the place of deposit, when the aperture 1 passes offof the suction-pipe and the blank is dropped upon the pile of pieces, asshown at t.

The box S is shown at the forward end of its stroke over the cutter A inFig. 5 and in the opposite position over the pile tin Fig. 4, and isshown provided with an automatic moving device in Fig. 7, whereby it iscarried forward to pick up the blank by the surplus motion of therollerarm V after the roller has passed off of the cutter.

Instead of the strap 11, a roller, u, is secured ena vertical stud inthe top of the bar 0, and is pressed forward (in opposition to thetension of the spring 1%) after each movement of the roll E by across-bar, w, attached to the arm V in rear of the roller. By thisconstruction the box S is moved only at the end of the rollers stroke,and the box may be retracted to deposit the blank at t by moving the armpartly toward the cutter A after the blank has been lifted.

From the above-it will be seen how the atmospheric pressure operatesalternately in the cutter and in the carrier, and that the same may bealtered in shape to any required degree without departing from theprinciple of my invention. The cutters may therefore be constructed andoperated ditferently,and may be connected with the suction-pipe by othermeans than that shown. It is also immaterial whether the suctionoperates by means of a perforated plate or by an open-mouthed box, orone provided with any kind of grating to sustain the material under theatmospheric pressure generated.

I am aware that the cutter and roller have been patented heretofore, andthereforedisclaim such elements. I have also filed another applicationherewith, in which I have claimed the combination of an unperforatedplaten with a cutter; but my present invention in- Vests the platen withdifferent functions from 1 those claimed in the application referred to,as the perforating and exhausting the air from the platen transform itfrom a mere support into a device for holding or clamping the materialto be cut.

The platen shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is omitted from Fig. l on account ofthe smallness of the scale, and because my invention is not dependentupon the particular construction of platen shown. Thus the platen may bemade without springs, to afford it a vertical adj ustment, as I find inpractice that the operators fingers are not affected by the cuttersedges, if the platen is permanently secured inside the cutter a littlebelow the top edges. The platen may also be formed of a wire fabric, orof other perforated material adapted to permit the required passage ofthe air, or may be replaced by a grating or any suitable support tosustain the leaf or other substance to be out under the atmosphericpressure.

I do not in this application claim the com bination of the cutter,roller, carrier-arm,

treadle, and connecting means, as I have claimed the same in anotherapplication, No.

84,665, filed herewith and patented October 23, 1883, No. 287,073. 5 Anynovel subject-matter which I have described and not claimed or attemptedto claim herein I have claimed or attempted to claim in other patentapplications, or have reserved to be claimed in future originalapplications.

I do not claim broadly herein the combination of a cutter conforming tothe shape of a cigar wrapper or binder, a perforated platen, and asuction-pipe for exhausting the air from within the cutter, since saidelements are shown in Letters Patent No. 315,408,issued to WilliamEggert, trustee, April 7, 1885.

I therefore claim my improvements as follows:

1. The combination, with a cutter having a 20 perforated holding-plate,as described, of a carrier having a perforated holding-plate, as setforth, and means, substantially as described, for exhausting the airalternately from the two perforated plates, so as to clamp or hold thematerial alternately to the cutter 25 and the carrier, as herein shownand described.

2. The combination, with the cutter A, roller E, and its swinging arm V,of a pneumatic carrier, S, mounted to move to and from the cutter, asdescribed, and a connection to the arm Vfor moving the carrierautomatical- 1y, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JNO. R. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

THos. S. CRANE, W. F. D. CRANE.

